Jet Set Beat
by Very-Bored-Anon
Summary: There was once a boy of red, who had eyes shaded with green, and hands dirtied by paint. Day and night he'd roam the streets, and all the people he meets, all knew him as Beat.
1. Beat

**Jet Set Beat**

It was an evening at Benten-cho . Cars passed by, leaving long trails of exhaust. Pedestrians walks by, some were rushing , some were just strolling. The evening sky donned a deep scarlet hue. The only one to appreciate this beauty, was a 17-year-old rudie with hair color like the sky.

He watched serenely as the clouds glided across the sky pass the orange sunset. In the palm of his hand, he held a bottle. He skated towards the river and squatted down. The river reflected the scarlet evening sky, along with his face.

The rudie glanced at his bottle. Inside of it was a message. He brought it closer to his chest, squeezing the bottle tightly as though he was praying. He then placed the bottle into the river gently. The rudie watched as the bottle got carried away by the river's gentle waves. The moment the bottle floated out of side, the rudie himself had left. He left nothing but a colorful graffiti tag that read: "Beat was here!"

Beat swerved pass pedestrians- flipping up the skirts of women and nicking snacks from children. He jumped over cars and buses, tagging them without fail, and avoided the police and their tear gases. Finally he reached a small warehouse. He opened the shutters and grinded in the rail to the bottom of the stairs. He flipped the light switch on and sat down.

He sighed deeply as he flipped through and old magazine. He lied down on the sofa and continue to flip through the magazine. In the end he threw it away and drifted off to sleep . Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from his radio watch;

"JET SET RADIO!"

"YAARGH!" Beat shrieked as he fell off the sofa.

The loud voice continued, "YO! YO! YO! It's DJ Professor K givin' y'all da latest updates on the gangs and the po-pos!"

"Ugh... I thought he was already 40, how can he still shout like that?" Neat grumbled as he climbed back onto his sofa.

"An here's da top three gangs of Shibuya-cho!"

At that exact moment, Beat's ears perked up and listen intently. He didn't bring the radio watch closer to his ear though, the DJ's voice can be heard from 3 meters.

"Rudie gang number 1! Do I get a drum roll?!"

"No, you don't," Beat answered back, not like the message will reach him anyway.

"Poison Jam!"

Beat clicked his tongue. "Been there, said that I was too 'shrimpy'."

"Noise Tanks!"

"Aren't taking anymore gang members apparently," Beat said.

"An da last but not least, the Love Shockers!"

"That's an all-girls' gang!" Beat whined.

"Dat's all fer' now people! DJ Professor K , OUT!" The song, Concept of Love played after his announcement .

Beat sighed again. "I wanna be in a gang."

He slid his hand through the gaps of the sofa and pulled out a remote control. Pressing the 'ON' button, he heightened the TV's volume. Switching from channel to channel, he finally stopped at one. A news channel.

He smirked as he watched his recorded self skate pass the SWAT team, the frowned when he saw himself trip. then, a different recording was shown. It showed a female rudie.

She wore a round green helmet with tufts of blond hair showing and a green dress with a short hem and long striped sleeves. She was labeled as a lone rudie.

"A 'lone rudie', huh?" He scribbled into a notepad. "I wonder what's her name."

Suddenly, the song Concept of Love paused abruptly and DJ Professor K's voice can be heard again:

"To all ya' nerds that watch da news, we got a sexy rudie streets! And her name is- Drum roll please!"

"Just tell me the frickin' name!" Beat yelled into the radio.

"Gum! Da' blonde demoness who LOVES to leave a trail of broken hearts behind her! So, be careful boys! If you wanna do her, you've gotta hide yer' wallets! DJ Professor K, OUT!"

Concept of Love continued shortly after DJ Professor K'S announcement. Beat scribbled down the description of Gum into the notepad along with a quick sketch of her. he tore off the page and stuffed it into his pocket along with the pen.

"Time for dinner." Beat skated towards to the exit.

After busting an ATM machine, Beat ordered a cheeseburger and a can of Dr. Pepper. He skated around Shibuya-cho, enjoying the cool night breeze and the starry sky. Then, he kicked something. A bottle. Chucking the empty can aside, he picked up the bottle. finishing the cheeseburger, he tore off a scrap of paper from the paper bag and took out his pen.

_Last time I wrote 'I want to have friends', _Beat thought. _So this time..._

Beat scribbled onto the paper: _I want to be friends with Gum._ He went to the river afterwards.

**CHAPTER 1 *END***


	2. Recruits

**Jet Set Beat**

It was a late Monday morning, cars driving about, students rushing to classes, and a lone female rudie skating by the roadside.

Her hand swung left and right, spraying bright colors onto brick walls. Seconds later, her masterpiece was done; A glossed lip blowing out a bubble gum in the shape of the word 'GUM'. The letter 'G' had a lopsided helmet on it, similar to the rudie. The background of the tag had a splattery pattern on it.

Gum admired her tag and throw the empty spray can at a cat. Behind her, pedestrians pointed at her and whispered. Annoyed, Gum skated away. She felt as though time was flying pass her as she felt the wind whip past her. She halted at the river. She took off her helmet and held it in her arm. The wind blew her hair to the side.

Then, Gum saw something, a bottle. Picking up the bottle, she noticed that there was a message and read it aloud: _I want to have friends._

_What a depressing person, _Gum thought.

A few meters away from where she found the bottle , there was another bottle. It also had a message but it was wet. She took out the message from the second bottle: _I want to be friends with Gum._

_Who IS this person? _ Gum wondered. The two messages were written with the same handwriting, by the same person.

Gum skated around the riverbank, searching for any clues. Then she saw a tag: BEAT was here!

"Beat.. Now where've I heard that name..." Gum thought out loud. Then it hit her, not the answer, another bottle. The wind blew at it but it's path was blocked by Gum's skates. Taking her eyes of the bottle, she looked at the person who dropped it.

A red haired teenage boy stood before her. His hand raised slightly as though he was grabbing something. The brightly colored roller skates shows that he was a rudie as well. His ears were covered by his large headphones and his eyes hidden behind large green shades. On his shirt, it spelt 'Bii-to' in kanji.

_Bii... to..._ Gum read in her mind. _Bii... to... That sounds like... Beat!_

"You're that depressed weirdo who wanted to be my friend!" Gum said, pointing at him in an accusing manner, Beat reacted as though he was shot by a gun.

Gum obviously realized that she'd hurt his feelings because she lowere her finger immediately after Beat's reaction. Picking up the bottle at her feet, she skated over to Beat.

"Were you the one who sent all these messages?" Gum asked, softly this time.

Beat nodded. "Are you Gum?"

"Yeah. You wanted to be my friend?" Gum asked.

"Well, actually," Beat said. "I was hoping to start a gang and I thought that I could recruits you..." hos last words trail off and his faced was flushed.

"A gang, eh?" Gum tapped her chin. "I'll join you."

Beat looked up. "Really?"

"_If_ you could do some tricks for me. I don't want to ne in a gang led by some nood," Gum replied.

"Oh, PLEASE!" Beat huffed. 'I've been on the streets for two weeks already. C'mon!" and then the two rudies skated towards the nearest road in Shibuya-cho.

"Alright," Gum said. "Let's start."

She skated across the road, jumping just before a car hit her, performed a few tricks mid-air before landing on the pavement without slipping.

"Now, let's see if you do the same. Or better," Gum said.

Beay smirked and charged. Twisting and swerving left and right as a few vehicles pass before jumping over two cars and performing a mid-air split. He landed right beside Gum.

"Not bad, rudie," Gum complimented. "I'll join your gang."

"Yeah, I agree as well."

Both of them turn to another rudie. He was wearing a baggy full-body jumpsuit and a cloth hat, both of them blue. His skates were yellow with teal wheels. He had shoulder length brown hair that curled at its ends. He was clapping at Beat's performance.

"What's up? My name's Tab," the rudie had his hand out as if to shake hands.

As Beat held his hand out to shake Tab's, Tab pulled his hand away.

"Too slow,: Tab smirked.

Beat frowned. "So, are you here to humiliate me or what?"

"It's more like I want to join your gang," Tab said.

"What?" Beat said, startled.

"I (Tab points at himself) said (Tab made a talking motion with his hand) that I (points at himself again) want to (points out two fingers) join your gang," Tab repeated. "You need a minimum of at least three people to have a gang."

"Yeah, I know," Beat said, irritated by Tab's sign language.

"But before that-"

"I have to show you some tricks?" Beat answered for him. Tab nodded in reply.

"Let's take this to a more... busy road," Tab said, leading Beat and Gum to another street.

"Watch and learn," Tab said.

He dashed into the busy street. Squeezing in between two cars, he grabbed the one in front of him. The car pulled him uphill. Releasing the bumper, he leaped gracefully to the side, as though break-dancing mid-air, and landed on a rail. Grinding on it, he grabbed the three spray cans on it and used them all on a huge graffiti tag of chimpanzee spraying large colorful words: MONKEY BUSINESS. Tab grabbed a fourth spray can and sprayed mid-air;

"SHOW ME WATCH YOU GOT!"

Beat smirked and immediately skated towards a car. Grabbing the bumper, he waited as he was taken uphill. Jumping away, he did a somersault and his split again before landing on the rail beside Tab's. Immediately grabbing three spray cans, he grinded downhill while spraying a equally large tag.

Skating towards Tab, he asked, "Satisfied, Tabby?"

Beat smirked obnoxiously while holding out his hand, expecting Tab shake it and become a member. Tab smirked as well.

"Satisfied as hell." Tab shook Beat's hand.


	3. Hideout

**Jet Set Beat**

"Okay then!" Gum clapped her hands. "Now all we need is a hideout!"

"Oh, I know a good place !" Beat said.

He brought them to the warehouse. He beckoned them to follow him.

'Looks a bit cramped," Gum said, glancing at the warehouse.

"That's how it looks. C'mon, down the stairs we go," Beat said.

He jumped onto the rail and grinded downwards with Gum and Tab following behind.

"By the way, jumping down the stairs isn't a good idea," Beat advised,.

"What made you think we'd jump down two flights of- no wait, make that _three_ flights of stairs?" Gum asked.

"Just in case," Beat replied. "Did it once to myself, twisted my ankle."

When they reached the bottom, Beat flipped the light switch. Sofas and couches were misplaced. There was a coffee table in between two sofas. At one corner there were a few amplifiers and a CD player. A few steps below there were items such as a pinball machine, a small kitchen, a few cabinets, and some more tables. There was a door leading to another room. There were tags and posters on the wall and bits of litter like paper and cans on the floor.

"Bit of a dump, but not bad for a hideout," Gum said.

Tab skated towards a battered yellow couch. It was ripped with foam and cotton sticking out and there were a few springs.

" I was planning on chucking that hunk of foam out, but if you can fix it, it's yours," Beat said.

Tab nodded. "Deal."

Beat turned to Gum. "Help me clean this place up."

"Why should I help?"

"Because (1) You called this place a dump, and (2) I'm the leader. You're suppose to listen to me," Beat explained, while grabbing a trash bag. He gave another to Gum. "C'mon, don't be lazy."

Gum sighed. "What about Tab? Why isn't he helping?"

"Cuz' he's fixing the couch," Beat pointed at Tab.

Tab was skating around the couch. Tools and materials laid around the floor; cloth, thread, needles, cotton, etc. He swed up tears and sewes [atches of cloth onto holes.

"He's quick," Gum commented, impressed.

"Yeah," Beat agreed. "C'mon, you can watch him later."

"You're such a kill joy," Gum pouted.

She slowly picked up the litter and dropped them into the trash bag. Beat, however, was skating around the place picking up all the litter.

He glared at Gum. "Hurry up! By the time you've got five, the whole garage would be spotless!"

_That's the whole point, _Gum thought. She quicken her pace slightly.

By the time it was afternoon, the garage was much cleaner. Tab had finished fixing the couch but refused to share it.

"You said that the couch is mine if I fixed it!" Tab said.

"Well, yes, I did, "Beat said, but was interrupted.

"Then buzz off!" Tab said, waving his hand as though he was chasing a ays a fly.

"ARGH! Fine!' Beat replied. He jumped down the steps and went into the other room and slammed the door shut.

Gum glanced at the door before turning to tab, "Aw... You made him cry.

"I am not crying!" Beat yelled through the door.

Gum shrugged and continued, "What's for lunch?"

"Dunno," Tab replied, then he yelled," Yo, leader! Cook us something!"

The door swung open and Beat came out. "I'm not your maid, you know."

"Right, you're our leader," Gum said. 'And our slave too. So, cook us something. There's a kitchen here for a reason, right?"

Beat grumbled, and replied, "The fridge's empty, I've got nothing to cook for you. So, if you wanna eat go buy some stuff for me."

He scribbled down a grocery list and gave it to them. "Now go bust an ATM machine and get the ingredients."


End file.
